Ex-Florida gubernatorial candidate Andrew Gillum says he identifies as bisexual

Former Florida gubernatorial candidate Andrew Gillum (D) on Monday told daytime talk show host Tamron Hall that he identifies as bisexual.  

Words never shared publicly until this moment #TamronHallShow “I identify as bisexual”. – @AndrewGillum

— Tamron Hall (@tamronhall) September 14, 2020

“To be very honest with you, when you didn’t ask the question, you put it out there is whether or not I identify as gay. And the answer is I don’t identify as gay, but I do identify as bisexual, and that is something that I have never shared publicly before,” Gillum told Hall, a former NBC “Today” co-host, on Monday.

The former Tallahassee mayor checked into a rehab center six months ago for alcohol abuse after a suspected meth incident in a Miami hotel room in February.

Gillum was found passed out at the Mondrian South Beach hotel in Miami Beach along with another man who was taken to a hospital for a drug overdose. Gillum said he had been drinking but didn’t recall taking any drugs.

“Everyone believes the absolute worst about that day. At this stage, I don’t have anything else to have to conceal,” Gillum told Hall. “I literally got broken down to my most bare place, to the place where I wasn’t even sure that I wanted to live. Not because of what I had done but because of everything that was being said about me.”

“What was most hurtful was this belief that I was somehow living a lie in my marriage and in my family. That was the most hurtful to me. Because I believe we are all entitled to mistakes, and I believe we are entitled to those mistakes without having every other respectable and redeeming part of our lives invalidated.”

Gillum was a CNN contributor until stepping down from the role following the Miami Beach incident.

The 41-year-old narrowing lost to now-Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) in the Sunshine State’s gubernatorial race in 2018, 49.59 percent to 49.19 percent.